The feds have created a way to see when their third coronavirus stimulus check will arrive – but it is far from infallible.
The Internal Revenue Service reopened its “Get My Payment” tool so that taxpayers can track the status of the $ 1,400 payments that started reaching bank accounts over the weekend.
The tool should be known to anyone who has received one of the first two economic impact payments authorized by Congress last year. It is a simple online form that should inform you if your payment has been processed and when to wait – after entering your Social Security number, date of birth, address and zip code.
But the last iteration of the tool faced complaints from people who didn’t see details about when the much-needed money would arrive.
“Get My Payment” became a trending topic on Twitter Monday morning as contributors clinging about the tool spitting out four dreaded words: “Payment status – Not available”.
The IRS says there are three reasons why you may see this vague message. It is possible that your payment has not yet been processed or the IRS does not have enough information to send it to you.
It can also mean that you are not eligible for the check. Congress has tightened eligibility rules so that anyone who earns more than $ 80,000 a year does not receive any money. Full payments are still available to individuals who had an income of up to $ 75,000 on their 2019 or 2020 income tax return.
While it can be difficult to wait, the IRS urged taxpayers to be patient. The “Get My Payment” tool is updated daily, so check regularly if the payment status is not available immediately. Most checks should arrive automatically, and calling the IRS or your bank does not speed up the process, officials say.
“Although the tax season is in full swing, IRS officials have worked around the clock to quickly deliver aid to millions of Americans struggling to cope with this historic pandemic,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig in a statement last week. last.
If the IRS has your information on file, Get My Payment must inform the date of the payment that will come by check or direct deposit, which is what most people will receive.
The tool can show some taxpayers the message “Need more information”, which means that the Post Office was unable to deliver your payment. These people can use Get My Payment to send bank account information to the IRS.
The Get My Payment tool was not the only source of regret for taxpayers waiting for their stimulus funds.
JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo customers criticized banks on social media after saying the funds would not be available until at least Wednesday, although the first checks arrived this weekend.
That’s because March 17 is the official payment date for the first batch of checks, according to the banks. The IRS says that some people may see direct deposits appear as pending or provisional payments before that date.
This is also not the first batch of complaints about Get My Payment. The tool told some people earlier this year that its $ 600 stimulus checks were sent to unknown bank accounts as a result of confusion over tax preparation companies.
When the IRS distributed the first $ 1,200 checks last spring, some people who did not owe taxes and did not get a refund on their most recent tax return were temporarily unable to expedite their payments before the Feds fixed a bug in the Get Mine tool payment.